Fixing the Flawed Approach to Diversity
Company leaders must acknowledge their blind spots, respond to the needs of diverse groups, and focus on the measures that really work.
Business and government leaders are increasingly realizing that success requires a diverse and inclusive organization. BCG’s unique research is dispelling myths and enhancing the dialogue about a range of topics related to diversity, including ambition, mobility, engagement, and overall career satisfaction. We have learned which diversity efforts pay off and which don’t—and how to create a diverse, inclusive culture that helps the entire organization thrive.
Our research makes a clear business case for diversity: when companies and governments embrace diversity and inclusion as a critical driver of success, they are more likely to prosper and last. We have learned, for example, that increasing the diversity of leadership teams leads to greater innovation, better employee engagement, and improved financial performance.
BCG’s insights also reveal which shifts leaders need to make—and where to focus investments—in order to increase diversity and inclusion.
Company leaders must acknowledge their blind spots, respond to the needs of diverse groups, and focus on the measures that really work.
According to BCG research, women don’t step off the leadership track so much as they’re pushed off—by negative corporate cultures. CEOs can take action to make leadership more inclusive.
Want to generate inventive new ideas that can win in the market? Build management teams comprising people with the widest possible range of backgrounds and perspectives.
Although companies launched by women receive far less early-stage funding than those launched by men, women-owned companies generate more revenue.
It’s important to look at workplace diversity along a number of dimensions, including gender, race and ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, nation of origin, and socioeconomic status.
Our goal is to increase diversity, unlocking the potential of every BCGer and client team member. To do so, we invest in people and in the research that reveals which tools, programs, and cultural changes are necessary to deliver sustainable impact.
Organizations that lack diversity will find themselves falling behind in the war for talent. Research shows that more diverse companies benefit from more engaged and ambitious staff, greater innovation, and a better bottom line. Despite these facts, only 5% of CEOs are women, and that number has not meaningfully moved in decades. And while approximately 98% of employees say their company has a gender diversity program in place, only about a quarter feel that they have personally benefited from a diversity intervention.
There is growing governmental pressure on organizations to change this dynamic. In addition, with global media attention through movements such as Me Too, Time’s Up, and worldwide women’s marches, company leaders must address the issue in order to improve recruiting and maintain credibility.
And demographics are shifting. Younger generations have different expectations in terms of culture and working norms, and those companies that are progressive and forward thinking will win the war for talent.
Why do some diversity measures work and others fall short? Many companies strive for increased diversity through a trial-and-error approach, hoping for good results. When efforts fail—as they often do—the results are a waste of resources and often frustrating for employees.
BCG partners with companies to implement proven strategies that can improve diversity and inclusion within an organization. We use data to shatter existing ideas of what works and guide organizations toward the measures that make a meaningful difference:
BCG works with companies across industries and across the globe to understand the fundamental building blocks of improving and accelerating the progress of diversity and inclusion.
Read more about diversity and the strategic value sprintWe have broad experience working with organizations to identify the right metrics and goals so that they can make meaningful change.
Read more about tracking and measuring diversityMaking progress with diversity and inclusion is a journey of cultural change that must go hand in hand with a broader cultural transformation.
Read more about driving diversity through cultural changeWe work with organizations and alongside leadership in order to build the roadmap toward a truly inclusive culture—and drive real change in the way people work every day.
Read more about new ways of workingBCG and BrightHouse, an independent business division of BCG, work with organizations to excavate purpose and then use it to inform decisions, actions to live it, and messaging to spread the word.
Read more about purpose, communications, and brandingSenior Partner & Managing Director
Chicago
Global People Senior Director
Boston
Partner & Managing Director
Washington, DC
Global Women@BCG Director
New York
Partner & Managing Director
London
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